An interesting turn of events. I did some searching on Google and read a few articles on Indonesia, it's energy policies, economy, and how it's been affected by global warming. One thing I did not know was that Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world.

Just considering the size of the nation and it's industrial output one would think that it'd have more nuclear power than just three almost tiny nuclear reactors. A nation in need of considerable growth in electricity generation to keep up with it's growing urbanization and industrial efforts would seem to be an ideal place for nuclear power. This is even more interesting considering the threats that global warming poses.

Indonesia is a nation composed of many islands, some of which are not far about the average sea level. If the global warming alarmists are to be believed Indonesia would benefit greatly from reduced CO2 output, and (again) being the fourth largest nation by population they have the ability to produce a greater effect on this CO2 output as well as lead the world by example.

What likely puts all of this in perspective though is that Indonesia relies heavily on oil and coal exports for its economy. Since the price of oil has sagged the amount of money coming in is no doubt not what it was. This leaves them with less resources to invest in experiments like nuclear power. It also leaves them with a lot of cheap oil that they can use to produce electricity.

One of the greatest threats to the environment is poverty. People with not enough money to buy heating oil will cut down trees to heat their homes. No doubt the leaders in Indonesia know this. They are doing what is best for Indonesia.

While Indonesia has plenty of cheap oil, coal, and natural gas I did see an article claim that Indonesia has a lot of opportunity for more hydroelectric power. I wonder if the nation's leaders want to avoid the controversy that damming up rivers might cause, just like they want to avoid controversy by investing in nuclear power. The decision to turn to fossil fuels and renewable energy cannot be without controversy. I've seen enough people ridicule solar power as expensive and unreliable, to the point that leaders in African nations call investing in solar power as "suicidal". A hospital powered by solar power cannot keep the lights on and the medicines refrigerated during the night, they must choose between running the refrigerator so they have medicine for the next day or keep the lights on so they can treat patients. A diesel generator is cheap to run, reliable, and can easily power the lights and the refrigeration.

Perhaps the leaders in Indonesia also know the problems with renewable energy but will invest in it anyway to avoid controversy.

Disclaimer: I am an engineer but not a nuclear engineer, mechanical engineer, chemical engineer, or industrial engineer. My education included electrical, computer, and software engineering.